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Abstract
One of the most important elements of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs is the strong commitment to inclusive development, and "leaving no one behind" has emerged as a central theme of the agenda. How did this consensus come about? And what does this term mean and how is it being interpreted? This matters because SDGs shift international norms. Global goals exert influence on policy and action of governments and stakeholders in development operates through discourse. So the language used in formulating the UN Agenda is a terrain of active contestation. This paper aims to explain the politics that led to this term as a core theme. It argues that LNOB was promoted to frame the SDG inequality agenda as inclusive development, focusing on the exclusion of marginalized and vulnerable groups from social opportunities, deflecting attention from the core issues of distribution of income and wealth, and the challenge of "extreme inequality." The term is adequately vague so as to accommodate wide ranging interpretations. Through a content analysis of LNOB in 43 VNRs, the paper finds that the majority of country strategies identify LNOB as priority to the very poor, and identify it with a strategy for social protection. This narrow interpretation does not respond to the ambition of the 2030 Agenda for transformative change, and the principles of human rights approaches laid out.

Current contestations of the liberal international order stand in notable contrast with the earlier rise of international law during the post-cold war period. As Krieger and Liese argue, this situation calls for assessment of the type of change that is currently observed, i.e. norm change (Wandel) or a more fundamental transformation of international law – a metamorphosis (Verwandlung)? To address this question, this paper details the bi-focal approach to norms in order to reflect and take account of the complex interrelation between fact-based and value-based conceptions of norms. The paper is organised in three sections. The first section presents three axioms underlying the conceptual framework to study norm(ative) change which are visualised by a triangular operation to analyse this change in relation with practices and norms. The second section recalls three key interests that have guided IR norms research after the return to norms in the late 1980s. They include, first, allocating change in and through practice, second, identifying behavioural change with reference to norm- following, and third, identifying norm(ative) change with reference to discursive practice. The third section presents the two analytical tools of the conceptual frame, namely, the norm-typology and the cycle-grid model. It also indicates how to apply these tools with reference to illustrative case scenarios. The conclusion recalls the key elements of the conceptual framework for research on norm(ative) change in international relations in light of the challenge of establishing sustainable normativity in the global order.

This article explores an understudied dimension of the International Criminal Court 'Africa Problem' – low contestedness. In a world of enduring cultural differences, norm contestation is inevitable. Yet, regular and institutionalized access to meaningful contestation for stakeholders (contestedness) can turn contestation into consensus instead of conflict. African stakeholders did not enjoy such access in the negotiation, diffusion and, most importantly, in the implementation of the Rome Statute. This helps explain the current normative crisis, which we reconstruct as a series of contestation moves. It also informs the path forward to resolve the crisis.

The prohibition of threats of force, although included in Article 2 of the United Nations (UN) Charter, among the principles upon which the United Nations is built, often plays a secondary role in the maintenance of international peace and security. The aim of the present paper is to verify how violations of the prohibition of threats of force influence its current status. To this end, the paper is divided into three major parts. The first briefly discusses the conditions of the legality of threats of force. The second presents two examples of threats of force: when threats of force were followed by the use of force, as well as when no use of force took place after the threats of force were made. The final part of the paper discusses the status of the prohibition, examining whether it is a case of non-application, falling into desuetude, silent contestation, or mere violation of a legal norm.

Dans la société occidentale, les constructions discursives dominantes définissent les « gros » corps comme des corps malades qui manquent de volonté pour gérer leurs désirs. Ces discours néolibéraux laissent aussi entendre que le corps serait un objet mesurable distinct du corps vécu. Les femmes « grosses » sont assujetties aux discours néolibéraux sur l'obésité, mais aussi au « savoir » sur la féminité (hétérosexuelle); elles sont donc jugées et dénigrées puisqu'elles ne se conforment pas aux normes sociales de ces deux espaces discursifs. Toutefois, certaines d'entre elles résistent en problématisant l'identité féminine que génèrent les discours dominants sur l'obésité. En effet, dans une recherche procédant à une analyse foucaldienne des discours de quatre vidéos produites sur YouTube par des femmes qui se disent « grosses » et des commentaires que ces vidéos ont suscités, les auteures ont constaté que YouTube offre aux femmes une plateforme pour pratiquer la parrhésie, ce que Foucault décrit comme l'acte de dire la vérité sans peur. Utiliser YouTube pour parler sans peur de ses difficultés avec les constructions discursives dominantes du corps féminin « gros » favorise une forme d'attention à soi qui peut aider les femmes à contester les discours dominants sur l'obésité. Même si elles ne parviennent pas à se libérer complètement de ces discours, elles peuvent, grâce à l'auto(re)présentation parrhésiastique dans YouTube, se voir sous un jour nouveau et contribuer à la production et à la reproduction de contre-discours sur le corps féminin « gros ».

This article is about contested norms in inter-national encounters in global fisheries governance. It illustrates how norms work by reconstructing the trajectory of the 1995 'Turbot War' as a series of inter-national encounters among diverse sets of Canadian and European stakeholders. By unpacking the contestations and identifying the norms at stake, it is suggested that what began as action at cross-purposes (i.e. each party referring to a different fundamental norm), ultimately holds the potential for fairer fisheries governance. This finding is shown by linking source and settlement of the dispute and identifying the shared concern for the balance between the right to fish and the responsibility for sustainable fisheries. The article develops a framework to elaborate on procedural details including especially the right for stakeholder access to regular contestation. It is organised in four sections: section 1 summarises the argument, section 2 presents the framework of critical norms research, section 3 reconstructs contestations of fisheries norms over the duration of the dispute, and section 4 elaborates on the dispute as a prelude to fairer fisheries governance. The latter is based on a novel conceptual focus on stakeholder access to contestation at the meso-layer of fisheries governance where organising principles are negotiated close to policy and political processes, respectively. The conclusion suggests for future research to pay more attention to the link between the 'is' and the 'ought' of norms in critical norms research in International Relations theories (IR).

Aquesta tesi doctoral per compendi de publicacions analitza l'aproximació de la UE i l'Índia a la governança global de la seguretat a través del prisma de les operacions de pau. Tot i que les operacions de pau, i les normes relacionades amb aquesta matèria, s'han estudiat en el passat, el centre d'atenció ha estat sobretot en la contestació discursiva que ha tingut lloc en els debats a Nacions Unides. La literatura ha explorat molt poc la contestació a nivell de comportament; així, no ha prestat atenció als "practitioners" en el sentit, per exemple, de la seva formació com a "pacificadors" en el marc de les missions. La tesi mira d'omplir aquest buit. Per fer-ho es basa en una literatura molt nova, que explora la possibilitat de combinar la literatura sobre normes amb la literatura provinent del "practices turn". Un altra aspecte que aborda aquesta tesi és la contribució del Sud Global en la conformació de les normes en les operacions de pau, tema gens abordat per la literatura. Per abordar aquests buits en la recerca, la tesi explora l'aproximació de l'Índia i la seva contribució a les normes i a les pràctiques internacionals, fins ara poc explorada. En general, la tesi es guia per dos preguntes centrals d'investigació: Quines són les normes i les pràctiques que l'Índia i la UE apliquen en les operacions de pau? ¿Per què la UE i l'Índia compleixen, localitzen i impugnen les normes i les pràctiques existents en les operacions de pau i quina forma adopta aquesta contestació? Aquestes preguntes d'investigació troben resposta en tres publicacions individuals que es centren en tres temes: la formació dels pacificadores, l'apropiació des de la dimensió local en les operacions, i la incorporació de la perspectiva de gènere en les missions. El treball es basa en dades recollides a través d'entrevistes semiestructurades, observació participant i anàlisi de documents. La tesi demostra que les aproximacions de la UE i l'Índia a les operacions de pau no són tan divergents com la literatura prèviament ha predit. A més, ...

Aquesta tesi doctoral per compendi de publicacions analitza l'aproximació de la UE i l'Índia a la governança global de la seguretat a través del prisma de les operacions de pau. Tot i que les operacions de pau, i les normes relacionades amb aquesta matèria, s'han estudiat en el passat, el centre d'atenció ha estat sobretot en la contestació discursiva que ha tingut lloc en els debats a Nacions Unides. La literatura ha explorat molt poc la contestació a nivell de comportament; així, no ha prestat atenció als "practitioners" en el sentit, per exemple, de la seva formació com a "pacificadors" en el marc de les missions. La tesi mira d'omplir aquest buit. Per fer-ho es basa en una literatura molt nova, que explora la possibilitat de combinar la literatura sobre normes amb la literatura provinent del "practices turn". Un altra aspecte que aborda aquesta tesi és la contribució del Sud Global en la conformació de les normes en les operacions de pau, tema gens abordat per la literatura. Per abordar aquests buits en la recerca, la tesi explora l'aproximació de l'Índia i la seva contribució a les normes i a les pràctiques internacionals, fins ara poc explorada. En general, la tesi es guia per dos preguntes centrals d'investigació: Quines són les normes i les pràctiques que l'Índia i la UE apliquen en les operacions de pau? ¿Per què la UE i l'Índia compleixen, localitzen i impugnen les normes i les pràctiques existents en les operacions de pau i quina forma adopta aquesta contestació? Aquestes preguntes d'investigació troben resposta en tres publicacions individuals que es centren en tres temes: la formació dels pacificadores, l'apropiació des de la dimensió local en les operacions, i la incorporació de la perspectiva de gènere en les missions. El treball es basa en dades recollides a través d'entrevistes semiestructurades, observació participant i anàlisi de documents. La tesi demostra que les aproximacions de la UE i l'Índia a les operacions de pau no són tan divergents com la literatura prèviament ha predit. A més, ...

Existing studies on democracies? involvement in torture emphasise how governments have been able to circumvent the international anti-torture norm and shape public discourse on the issue through powerful rhetorical strategies of denial and exception. Less attention has been paid, however, to the rhetoric of opponents of torture and how it impacts on governments and security agencies. This article proposes a typology of four common arguments against torture, which make use variously of ethical, utilitarian and ?shaming? rhetoric. These arguments often take a narrative form and are extensively contested by governments. Drawing on the literature on rhetorical coercion, I argue that anti-torture narratives can play an important role in constraining democratic states and significantly reducing their perpetration of torture. Yet the multiplicity of narratives at play opens up opportunities for governments to accept some messages against torture while simultaneously contesting others in a way which enables them to continue their involvement in torture. I develop this argument through a comparative analysis of the role of torture in two British counterterrorism campaigns ? against Irish republican terrorism in the 1970s and against jihadist violence after 9/11. Differences in the content and salience of the narratives advanced by critics of the government during the two time periods explain much about why the British government contested some arguments against torture, but accepted others. This variation helps to explain in turn why British security agencies carried out coercive interrogations on a wide scale during the 1970s, while their perpetration of torture was significantly reduced in the post-9/11 case.

If women's rights norms have become internationally acknowledged, is it reasonable to assume that the status of women worldwide has improved because of international norms? It is argued here that the assumption of a global-to-local flow of norms inherent in most of the global norm diffusion literature is simplistic. To provide a more adequate theoretical framework, the paper juxtaposes the debate on the impact of international regimes and the power of global norms with an interdisciplinary mix of transnational approaches that identify multidirectional processes of appropriation and contestation of global norms. Departing from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as the most authoritative and steady piece of the international women's rights discourse, the transnational perspective developed here proposes three main constellations of traveling global norms: global discourse translation, impact translation, and distorted translation. Adapted from the source document.

De plus en plus de filles et de femmes participent à des sports de tradition masculine tels que le hockey, l'haltérophilie ou la boxe. Cette transformation de la réalité sportive a-t-elle un impact sur les normes dominantes de la féminité? L'objectif principal des auteures de cette étude était double : d'une part, vérifier dans quelle mesure les adolescentes et les adolescents québécois adhèrent ou résistent aux normes de féminité véhiculées par l'institution sportive; d'autre part, voir dans quelle mesure leurs dispositions à l'égard de ces normes sont liées à une conception plus ou moins stéréotypée de la féminité. Deux des processus de construction sociale du genre proposés par Harding (1986), soit le symbolisme dichotomique de genre et la structuration selon le genre des sphères d'activités sociales, sont au fondement de cette recherche. Une démarche méthodologique qualitative a été privilégiée. Au total, 354 jeunes (180 filles et 174 garçons) de cinquième secondaire de trois milieux socioéconomiques différents ont rédigé une « lettre d'opinion » sur leur conception de la féminité et sur leur perception des filles qui pratiquent des sports socialement perçus comme « masculins ». L'analyse de contenu des lettres d'opinion révèle que la sphère sportive constitue à la fois un espace de reproduction et un espace de contestation de la division sexuelle. Les résultats confirment des rapports inégalitaires entre les sexes : les garçons sont trois fois plus nombreux que les filles à exprimer un jugement négatif au regard de la participation de ces dernières à des sports de tradition masculine. À l'opposé, une forte majorité de filles voient dans ces pratiques un lieu de contestation de l'ordre social de genre. L'analyse des conceptions de la féminité indique, par ailleurs, que l'adhésion aux représentations stéréotypées du sexe est plus prégnante dans l'imaginaire des jeunes que l'assignation sexuée des pratiques sportives, et ce, tant chez les filles que chez les garçons. Enfin, l'examen des interconnexions entre le sexe et le niveau socioéconomique suggère une double domination pour les filles du milieu populaire et une forme de complicité dans la domination chez les garçons et les filles du milieu bien nanti.

This article develops a new theoretical approach to digitalisation in diplomacy, resituating conventional understandings of the relationship between diplomacy and technological transformation. Challenging the conception that 'traditional' diplomacy is being supplemented or challenged by new forms of 'digital diplomacy', we show how the ubiquity of digital devices and technologies makes disentangling analogue from digital diplomatic practices practically impossible today. The argument is developed through ethnographic observations of everyday diplomatic work in the European Union (EU) multilateral setting in Brussels as well as interviews with ambassadors, attachés, seconded diplomats, spokespersons and interpreters. To understand the place of digital technologies in diplomatic work, we develop the concept of blended diplomacy by which we mean the dual process of the entanglement of technical and social doings and the contestation regarding how this entanglement impacts professional diplomatic imaginaries and relations. Drawing on insights from practice theory and the sociology of science, technology and professions, we show how diplomatic actors demarcate their professional territory and protect their positions through boundary work. They draw horizontal boundaries between what they see as 'real' diplomatic work and distractions and vertical boundaries between themselves and other diplomatic actors, ranking people around status and skills. Overall, digital technologies are implicated in deeper struggles regarding what it means to be a diplomat. A focus on the blended character of diplomatic practice opens new avenues for research on how digitalisation, in contradictory and uneven ways, shapes norms, identities, and social relations and how it – through reflexivity, anxieties and contestation – may shape international politics.

The Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women and domestic violence is contested across Europe by a strong anti-gender rhetoric, posing a direct threat to gender equality progress. Together with opposition to gender equality, attacks on the Convention have the effect of delegitimizing the norm it carries, namely ending gender violence. Opposition is also visible in the European Parliament and shapes the discourse of a possible ratification by the European Union. First perceived as a milestone for the advancement of women's rights and gender equality by supporters in the European Parliament, the Convention soon became a norm 'under fire' as the target of hot anti-gender contestations. Using a unique set of interview data with key parliamentary actors and Members of the European Parliament, this article analyses the discursive politics of contestation between norm promoters and norm antipreneurs regarding EU's ratification to the Convention. The analysis shows how ratification is constructed in oppositional terms with findings illuminating on direct and indirect forms of opposition to gender equality. ; publishedVersion ; Peer reviewed